Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-14

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The first table below shows changes in the total population of New York City from 1800 to 2000. The second and third tables show changes in the population of the five districts of the city (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, Staten Island) over the same period.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Student answer (Band 6.0)

The illustrations gives an information about total New York city's population from 1800 to 2000. Whereas the other tables give data about alteration in population of the five districts of the city over the same period of time. Overall, New York city's 21st century population is much higher than the 1800 and 1900's population. Furthermore, Manhattan's total population kept decreasing in the next centuries, 76% in 1800 to 19% in 2000. while other district's whole contribution kept on increasing from the years 1800, 1900 and 2000 with the percentages 24%, 46% and 81% respectively.

It is quite evident from the first table that in 2000, New York's population was at peak with the figure of 8,009,185. There was a huge difference in the numbers of population in the other years. In 1800, there were 79,216 citizens while in 1900, there were 3,437,202, which is almost three times of the year 1800. In the 21st century, the population has raised by almost 8 times by the year 1800.

Meanwhile, the other tables show that in year 1800, Manhattan's population was 60,515, which maked the 76% of total country's citizens. In the same year, other districts include Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens and Staten Island, contributed 24% of total population. In the year 1900, Manhattan's final population declined to 54% while the other districts's population elevated to 46% compared to the year 1800. In 21st century, Manhattan's population decreased more to 19% of total population whereas other district's all over percentage raged high to 81%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You cover the main comparisons and provide a clear overview: the city’s total population rose substantially, while Manhattan’s share fell and the other districts’ combined share increased. The figures for all three years are generally reported accurately. However, the comparison that 1900’s population was “almost three times” that of 1800 is incorrect; it was over forty times as large. The statement that the 2000 population was “almost 8 times” the 1800 figure is also imprecise, as it was about 101 times as large. Your overview focuses on percentage shares but could more clearly note that Manhattan’s population itself rose by 1900 before falling by 2000. This covers the task well overall, though some comparisons need greater precision and development.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a coherent overall arrangement: an introduction and overview are followed by a paragraph on the city total and one on the districts. This makes the main information easy to locate. Linking expressions such as “Overall,” “Furthermore,” and “Meanwhile” help signal the stages of the report. However, some connections are mechanical or unclear. For example, “In the same year” repeats the time reference without adding much, and “In 21st century” does not clearly identify the year 2000. The overview also combines several trends in a long sentence, with a full stop before “while” disrupting the connection. Use clearer references to the years and vary how you link comparisons to make progression smoother.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of vocabulary for describing trends, including “declined,” “elevated,” “contributed,” and “population,” and the meaning is generally understandable. However, several choices are inaccurate or unnatural for this task. “The illustrations gives an information” is an awkward description of tables, while “final population” and “raged high” do not express the intended data clearly. “Total country’s citizens” is also misleading because the figures refer to New York City, not the whole country. These word-choice and collocation problems make the report less precise, despite attempts to use varied vocabulary. Prefer standard data-reporting phrases and use “share” or “proportion” when discussing percentages.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including clauses beginning with “Whereas” and “while,” and the overall meaning can usually be followed. However, errors occur across sentence structures and agreement. For example, “The illustrations gives” has a subject–verb agreement error, and “which maked the 76%” contains an incorrect verb form and article use. The opening “Whereas the other tables give…” is a dependent clause presented as a sentence, while “while other district’s…” is not correctly joined to the preceding sentence. There are also problems with plural and possessive forms, as in “other districts’s population.” Work on complete sentence construction, agreement, verb forms, and punctuation; these recurring errors currently limit grammatical control.

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